Magda Szubanski Gets Brutally Honest About Her Cancer Battle: “It’s a Question of When”

Few Australian entertainers are loved quite like Magda Szubanski, the comedy icon best known for playing Sharon Strzelecki in ‘Kath & Kim’ and for her film roles in ‘Babe’ and ‘Happy Feet’. So when the actress revealed her cancer battle in May 2025, the news landed hard with fans across the country. She had been diagnosed with stage four mantle cell lymphoma, a rare and fast-moving form of blood cancer.

The diagnosis sparked an outpouring of support from her peers, including Kylie Minogue and Toni Collette. Then, in February, came the news everyone had been hoping for, as Szubanski shared on social media that she had finished chemotherapy and was in remission, joking that it seemed she was not dead after all.

Now, in her first interview since revealing her diagnosis, the 65-year-old has opened up about what remission really means for her. Sitting down with Tracy Grimshaw on ’60 Minutes’, Szubanski explained that while treatment has pushed the disease into deep remission, her cancer remains incurable.

“So, it’s almost sure that it will come back. It’s a question of ‘when’ and then ‘how bad,'” she told ’60 Minutes’. Szubanski also shared that the median survival rate for her condition is roughly 8.5 years, adding, “So, I could go less, or I could go more.”

In classic Magda fashion, she couldn’t resist lightening the mood, quipping that she would pitch for more. She also became emotional while discussing the survival statistics, a rare glimpse of vulnerability from a performer famous for making the country laugh.

Szubanski also looked back at the months before her diagnosis, when her body was sending clear warning signs. She said she felt so unwell that she would be woken in the middle of the night by her own dream voice telling her she was dying.

A breast screening later revealed swollen lymph nodes, which led to further tests and eventually confirmed mantle cell lymphoma. She then underwent an intensive course of chemotherapy she has previously identified as the Nordic protocol.

The treatment took a heavy toll. Szubanski compared its effect on her immune system to a multi-car pile-up, noting that the chemo essentially annihilates your defenses. She also spoke about her family’s health history, revealing that her mother had pancreatic cancer and her sister has lymphoma.

The wide-ranging conversation went well beyond her diagnosis. Szubanski declared she has nothing left to hide, opening up about a childhood trauma she had carried for decades, while Grimshaw also touched on her public work as an advocate for gay rights.

Despite the uncertainty, Szubanski said she now feels alive and that her results put her in good stead, though she acknowledged things could change. She reflected that everyone lives with a sword of Damocles hanging over them, but for her, that reality is no longer abstract.

The interview also arrives just ahead of a major milestone. During her treatment, Szubanski wrote her second memoir, I Can’t Tell You But I Will, which traces her life from daughter to orphan and from comedian to campaigner. The book centers on caring for her mother Margaret as she was dying, all while Szubanski was thrust into the fight during the same-sex marriage survey.

The memoir is set for release on September 29, and Szubanski is scheduled to appear at the Sydney Opera House on October 4 to discuss it. The appearances mark her first public events since entering remission, a welcome sign that one of Australia’s most treasured comedic voices is still trucking along.

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